I’ve never treated the Ballon d’Or seriously, but would you be alarmed if your manager overlooked two of the most outstanding footballers of all time, to vote for one of the poor relations in an outstanding, if waning, Barcelona team.
England manager, Roy Hodgson, is entitled to his opinion but in nominating Javier Mascherano, he’s started a debate which will not reflect kindly on him.
I remember when Martin O’Neill was in charge of Celtic, he could do or say anything and no matter how incongruous it seemed, we all looked for hidden wisdom. Martin knew much more about the game than all of us but this authority was uniquely evident. I don’t remember any other Celtic manager being regarded with such awe, and I go back to the latter Stein days.
Whether Mascherano is fit to pass the ball to Leonel Messi is beside the point, Roy’s opinion is a prisoner of fortune. He’s dead meat to his critics.
For all of Martin’s brilliance he wasn’t one for cutting edge tactics. He knew what worked for him and stuck to it. So when Gordon Strachan came along with some new, ‘ideas’, the reaction was not appreciative.
Gordon’s early days (years) were remarkably hostile but it’s what I’ve regarded as The Ross Wallace Deployment which remains in the mind as an unfinished debate.
Ross was a left winger. But, five goals down after a first leg capitulation in Bratislava, Gordon deployed him on the right. The outcry was palpable. We’d never heard of playing a left footed player ‘out of position’ like this. What is now commonplace – to mix a left and fight footed full back and winger on the same side – was both new and proof positive that Gordon Strachan was a deluded simpleton.
There’s value in the opinions of the outliers, so my vote for the Ballon d’Or would have gone to Efe Ambrose. Gordon Strachan was a better manager than any of us knew at the time.
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Mark Wilson’s Dundee Utd contract terminated. Dundee Utd are keen on our ex-player, Stephen O’Donnell so this could be the reason he being let go so Utd can afford O’Donnell.
Despite his injury record, Mark always wore our top with pride and was one of our better players in Neil’s first full season. So glad he got our winner in the alleged shame game.
All the best in the rest of your career, Mark.
67 Heaven
“…..and you are also SPOT ON as regards Peter Lawell …… In the environment we find ourselves in, he is doing a FANTASTIC job..”
I have no real way of knowing how good a job he is doing economically. I know it is a better job than Rangers custodians managed with their club.
However, I would draw the line well below Fantastic when it comes to assessing how he has managed relations with our fans. That has more to do with failings re the OBaF Act and the interface with the Green Brigade. Even though, I can see faults on both sides, I am still puzzled and offended by our inability to promote and defend our fans better and to stop seeing some of them as the enemy.
SFTB
Don’t disagree with much of that, although I instinctively jolt against the notion that ‘this is our lot, get used to it’ way of thinking which you reference in tangent.
We need a new way, which requires new thinking. Auldheid is apt to quote his former student A. Einstein: “Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them.”
In the current case, the ‘problem’ has been overlooked. The problem is not: How (quickly) can we get the ‘Old Firm Fixture’ back? Rather: “What should we do now that the ‘Old Firm Fixture’ no longer underwrites our Game?
Until we change minds, we won’t get a feasible answer. Changing minds probably means, in the case of the SPFL, changing people first.
What do you call an SPFL Exec with a P45? A start. A modest one, and futile in isolation, but necessary.
We need to recreate, not regurgitate.
Dallas dallas
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Usually always brazen and failte in vincent street for me.. usually good bands on there and full of birds. Espcially failte.
Hoops was usually the pick in gallowgate.. is that still called tir na ogs now ?
My first time over on the booze was 3-0 against huns at parkhead. Thompson and henrik were scorers….i think. Had crazy night in up and down club govan after it. Usual bands playing. Mad house .. i would only been 19/20 i think.
Good tim mark wilson.
Scored in my last visit to paradise so always have him to thank for that.
Proudbhoy and Livibhoy, I don’t think you can get a job on Sky Sports unless you say the Premisrship is the best league in the world.
Sky’s infuence on people’s thoughts shows much we live in a media driven society.
The EPL is the best for making money and selling its self not for football.
Manwho v Southampton ended up one nil with the only shot on target in the game.
Give me the Bundesliga or La Liga anytime.
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers
09:49 on 13 January, 2015
Big favour to ask from anyone on here with a bit of knowledge of NE England.
My nephew starts a placement next month at P&G in Seaton Delaval,just North of Whitley Bay.
He’s looking for short-term accommodation,say,about three-four months,and would like some info on the area,etc.
I’ve suggested he look at the various roomshare websites that have sprung up recently,but he disnae want to end up in the NE equivalent of Kilwinning,haha!
For the avoidance of doubt,the young fella is nothing like his uncle,being a quiet,gentle and laid-back type. So no need to worry about local house prices plummeting!
phils latest
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/security-problem/
SFTB….
I too was wondering that as I typed it. It looked good to me and had the ring of authority.
It is definitely a word that sprung from the bottom of a bottle of the aforementioned 8% Kingfisher and will probably now enter the local patois in the way that all great linguistic advances do.
By the way, have you ever read the ‘Bible in Scots’ ….the funniest bits are when the Devil speaks……all in what is now termed ‘the queens English’…..now that’s what I call dileterian!!
Hail hail
Estadio
TBB…great point you make reg what can we do to get the o/f backv what should we do..now that its gone..that is the whole problem with the people who run our sport in a nutshell… so well said
Btw,just been on the phone to 3 to cancel my contract.
Unlimited texts,calls,data.
£35 a month.
Nope,£12 a month now.
Whoopidoo.
Stopped watching EPL years ago.
Slowly but surely I see more and more people waking up to the reality of the situation – the overhype, the way the top sides in Europe toy with them in the CL, the unsustainable spending on transfers/wages. It is inevitable it will all come crashing down eventually.
This time, when it does, Scottish football will be debt free(huns notwithstanding) and there will be more than a few admiring glances from them at us. In fact, its already happening with former big guns Blackburn, Leeds and even Lennys Bolton whose financial situation is pretty dire. Good luck to all those clubs negotiating a settlement with their banks!
HH
Proudbhoy, what was Hoops bar is always shut when I go past it around fivish after work.
It does have another name but I can’t remember what it was called.
That sounds like a great night to celebrate, in Philvis stylie, a sound thrashing of the sticky buns.
tBB
“I instinctively jolt against the notion that ‘this is our lot, get used to it’ way of thinking which you reference in tangent.”
Or, “never mentioned at all because I do not believe it”, would be my preferred way of expressing my own view.
I have been guilty of stating that “we need to survive and stay alive until our conditions improve”. I am sceptical of seeing an opportunity for improved conditions within the constrictions of a cash-poor and skill-light league set up. It is not a problem unique to Scotland.
In similar countries with a rich footballing tradition (Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and parts of fomer Yugoslavia) they see their league serviced with promising youngsters who will soon leave and those who never were good enough to go to the big leagues or went and were found wanting.
That trend is strengthening and accelerating. Belgium has a golden generation but it is of limited use to Anderlecht or Standard Liege as they will lose any Wanyamas, Forsters, McGeadys and Hoopers who pass through their books too. They are all feeder leagues and none of them is planning economically for that to change anytime soon. They are all resigned to their fate as feeder clubs.
I am in favour of recreating rather than repeating. I was not sending out the message that we have to resurrect the failed OF model. But, even if this is a tight league race with Aberdeen, no foreign TV company or investor is going to believe that we have yet or are likely to have soon an equivalent of an OF relationship with Aberdeen or anyone else that they will buy.
My recreating is to get out of this league somehow. To form shared interests with Ajax, Anderlecht, Sparta Prague, Legia etc;
Staying within Scotland, we can only keep our head above water and become less relevant as a European club. Yes, we can improve things within Scotland but not by any margin that is going to change those fundamentals.
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers
15:12 on 13 January, 2015
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Good work.
Thats a great difference.
Paul67
Heard enough now about the genius of Gordon to last me more than one lifetime. No offence intended, WGS, you did great but that was then and this is now.
Did a quickwiki on Ross Wallace. Appears to have signed a two year deal in 2013 to stay at Burnley until sometime this year. Good luck Ross, I’d enjoy Burnley dodging the relegation bullet.
—————————————————————————————————————
LMS3W2 on my second life already. Magpies let me down at the week-end. This week it’s the Swans to take down the ugly ducklings.
Picking the wrong birds? It’ll end happily ever after this time, but keep the life-belt handy, please.
67Heaven .. CHALLENGING THE LIE ..I am wee Oscar / Neil Lennon.. Ipox belongs to the creditors
14:50 on
13 January, 2015
setting free the bears for res. 12 & oscar knox
14:41 on 13 January, 2015
Good point, well made ……..and, since they are now deed, we need to build up a ‘sporting’ world image for Scottish Football again….
…..and you are also SPOT ON as regards Peter Lawell …… In the environment we find ourselves in, he is doing a FANTASTIC job..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
But there lies the Flaw.
There will be no build of a ‘sporting’ world image of Scottish Football, until they sell their lie and thems are back. Then they’ll promote it to the World. The “Old Firm” are back and Giggin again. Oh how they will love it….And all will be well in their world and everything that goes with it !
Don’t fancy that much myself.
[15:14, 13/01/2015] Jack O Friel: Celtic Starting 11 v Sparta
Zaluska
Fisher
Denayer
O’Connell
Waters
Kayal
Lindsay
Tonev
Henderson
McGregor
Griffiths
[15:15, 13/01/2015] Jack O Friel: Celtic subs :
Fasan
Ambrose
Izaguirre
Nesbitt
McMullan
Scepovic
Thomson
Bitton
setting free the bears for res. 12 & oscar knox
14:58 on 13 January, 2015
There is room for improvement in any ‘operation’ but what gets me is that one or two on here engage in general (over-the-top) criticism when they are not happy with one aspect, or have a personal agenda ….some of the criticism of PL is venomous / hunlike / meeja like
proudbhoy
In my opinion Sky Sports are holding our game back.
Launch our own channel or move to BT and save our fans having to pay for two packages. It’s not the EPL we get a pittance so should be on one broadcaster.
Even if people aren;t watching the game put the channel on or record it. Viewing figures matter. Not watching your own leagues coverage is crazy!
LB
When does the Celtic game start, please …. CP time
Estadio
I am in favour of inventing new words so long as you do what you just managed i.e provide your own definition.
I would say that a diletarian is a Utilitarian Dilettante. Someone who is equally useless at every frivolous task.
Goodluck to the bhoys.
Bed time down under.
Ronnie deilas fenian army ✊
Was just thinking …..did our Board do more than we think to orchestrate the demise of derhun by their choice of the last 3 managers …..think about it
Ross Wallace walked past me in Booths supermarket car park in Lytham a couple of Sundays ago.
He will be remembered by me for making Pyol go absolutely ballistic as the wee man won us a free kick (outball) as we hung on in Barca………….Sweet.
Folly Folly
Is that the legendary Glenconner Park you’re talking about?
If so, I still have umpteen scars and embedded slithers of ash littering my knees and elbows.
>>>>
A mitre 5 weighing a tonne falling out the sky towards you, neds and devil dogs lining the pitch, sleet battering you as you played on a pitch resembling a building site.
I hear Ajax based their academy on the Royston experience.
Livibhoy
100% agree.. but sadly alot of celtic fans need their epl fix. Coverage of celtic is poor even in ireland ffs.. so alot of celtic fans have to watch epl just to get football chat in work. Like yourself. Back home if i mentioned scottish football people would basically role their eyes.
People are brainwashed.. dumbed down in fact with all the latest gadgets..tv stations reality tv shows etc etc
People follow what the media say sadly.. events in paris show this once again.
Seeing the irish stand up to the water metre charges and also yourselves backing yes vote in great numbers has given me hope that all is not lost.
Oridinary people have taken some shit the past 30yrs.. we deserve better.
Must sleep.
Thank goodness I’m off work this week, with this weather……not good for you Fholks, though ….hahahahahahaha
That’s rotating the squad -))))
Good to see denyer back.
Bobby,
But yer still with the same provider you were gonna cancel just a wee while ago :p
67 heaven
PL doing a fantastic job…really ??
Fairly strong superlative
Imagine if we’d qualified for the CL and were horsing the SPFL
And ..if he’d taken the SFA and Huns to task instead of sitting on his hands navel gazing
You’d have to invent new words for his wondrous magnificence
Sparta Prague: Štěch – Kadeřábek, Holek, Brabec, Podaný – Matějovský, Mareček, Dočkal – Přikryl, Krejčí – Konaté.
Local lad wae a new Celtic top on here in Goa. He bought it in Mumbai because he liked the colors and design. Thinks Scotland is part of Germany because I opened our conversation with Hail Hail…..he thought I said Heil Heil.
This spreading the history is more arduous than I expected…..
Hail hail and namaste namaste ( नमस्ते नमस्ते in the vernacular)….. Sadly it can also mean Hello H…..
Estadio
Miffed.
News has reached me that Volcanic Tongue in Finnieston is closing.A mighty fine Mail Order choon supplier..Seems the young scamps have found better things to do than supplying me with choons.
The a Sky set up in the EPL is very slick …the presentation very professional …..the pundits are extremely knowledgeable
However …..the on field product often disappoints
Sky Sports…just stated Rangers were demoted to Div3
The great lie continues
sftb
the article that i refer to is the blog header article that suggested MON didnt have tactical nuos where as WGS did.
I cant help but wonder how he managed to overcome one of the highest spending rangers teams ever (and they did outspend us) while being tactically naive
i cant help but wonder how he took on some of the finest teams in Europe and gave us back some credibility while being such a poor tactician
i struggle to understand how we managed to beat our high scoring records under his control
i am bewildered that we managed to concede so few goals while he was there
All done while rangers were spending big
Me personally i wont hear a word against him, just like Geordie think Ronny is a genius
i think MON was the greatest thing to happen to Celtic since Big Jock